Name That Project!
January 7, 2006 8:12 AM Subscribe
Please help me name a 10-year-old's science project! Quick!
The little girl I mentor (as described in this question) has a science project that was due yesterday. Mom basically refused to help her with it, including getting the supplies or checking the work, and thankfully The Kid got an extension until Monday. We've been working almost non-stop since yesterday afternoon, and have until 3:00 today -- when I drop her off at home -- but need a short, catchy title.
The experiment is on whether a balloon filled with helium, or a balloon you blow up yourself, lasts longer. I'm thinking of words/phrases like gas, floating, hot air, thin air, etc. But I'm tapped for actual workable ideas. The Kid, for all her talents and gifts, has a mild language impairment and a somewhat-lacking imagination.
Please help!
(Oh...and not to derail my own question...but the followup to the thread above is, we've started weekly Friday-night sleepovers that include reading, crafts and cooking, followed by swimming lessons and a second tutoring session on Saturday morning and some kind of fun/educational activity in the afternoon. This is week one; I'm confident this is going to make at least somewhat of a difference for this amazing little girl).
The little girl I mentor (as described in this question) has a science project that was due yesterday. Mom basically refused to help her with it, including getting the supplies or checking the work, and thankfully The Kid got an extension until Monday. We've been working almost non-stop since yesterday afternoon, and have until 3:00 today -- when I drop her off at home -- but need a short, catchy title.
The experiment is on whether a balloon filled with helium, or a balloon you blow up yourself, lasts longer. I'm thinking of words/phrases like gas, floating, hot air, thin air, etc. But I'm tapped for actual workable ideas. The Kid, for all her talents and gifts, has a mild language impairment and a somewhat-lacking imagination.
Please help!
(Oh...and not to derail my own question...but the followup to the thread above is, we've started weekly Friday-night sleepovers that include reading, crafts and cooking, followed by swimming lessons and a second tutoring session on Saturday morning and some kind of fun/educational activity in the afternoon. This is week one; I'm confident this is going to make at least somewhat of a difference for this amazing little girl).
"Full of Hot Air or Bloated with Gas? Which lasts longer?"
posted by bkdelong at 8:20 AM on January 7, 2006
posted by bkdelong at 8:20 AM on January 7, 2006
Best answer: To follow on teg's:
"The Great Gas Race"
or
"The Great Air Race"
posted by bkdelong at 8:22 AM on January 7, 2006
"The Great Gas Race"
or
"The Great Air Race"
posted by bkdelong at 8:22 AM on January 7, 2006
Inflation Duration!
You are a wonderful human being for giving so much of yourself to this kid.
posted by Gator at 8:24 AM on January 7, 2006
You are a wonderful human being for giving so much of yourself to this kid.
posted by Gator at 8:24 AM on January 7, 2006
Last Balloon Standing indeed.
also, YAY YOU, YOU ROCK.
posted by By The Grace of God at 8:39 AM on January 7, 2006
also, YAY YOU, YOU ROCK.
posted by By The Grace of God at 8:39 AM on January 7, 2006
[Something] Power by the Hour (where [Something] could be Air, Inflation, Floating, Staying, Hanging, Flying, or even just Balloon...)?
posted by Gator at 8:45 AM on January 7, 2006
posted by Gator at 8:45 AM on January 7, 2006
Response by poster: Aww...thanks everybody! I love this place. I wish I could mark them all best answer, but I'll come back and mark the one The Kid ends up choosing. (And Gator and By The Grace of God, thank you for the kind remarks too. I truly appreciate it.)
posted by justonegirl at 8:46 AM on January 7, 2006
posted by justonegirl at 8:46 AM on January 7, 2006
People, these names are really good. but it's time to think like a ten-year old. I'm a little behind on my teenybopperdom, so the best I could come up with is Oops I Deflated Again.
posted by allen.spaulding at 8:57 AM on January 7, 2006
posted by allen.spaulding at 8:57 AM on January 7, 2006
How about:
Comparison of the diffusion rates of gaseous He and a N2/O2 mixture through viscoelastic latex by time-resolved measurement of the volume in a closed spheroid
Alternatively:
Leaky gas is no fun: which balloon lasts longer?
Or, perhaps one of the more creative responses above. All kidding/stupidity aside, I want to say that you're doing a truly wonderful thing for this little girl.
Time permitting, you might want to try and explain the science by comparing the time it takes for sand and very small pebbles to go through a kitchen sieve. It's a pretty good analogy; the small sand is more like helium and will go through the sieve rapidly. The pebbles are more like nitrogen and oxygen (the primary components of air) and will take longer (if they're small enough to go through at all). I know you're under time crunch, but science projects are much more useful to students if they understand (at some level) the science involved.
posted by JMOZ at 8:58 AM on January 7, 2006
Comparison of the diffusion rates of gaseous He and a N2/O2 mixture through viscoelastic latex by time-resolved measurement of the volume in a closed spheroid
Alternatively:
Leaky gas is no fun: which balloon lasts longer?
Or, perhaps one of the more creative responses above. All kidding/stupidity aside, I want to say that you're doing a truly wonderful thing for this little girl.
Time permitting, you might want to try and explain the science by comparing the time it takes for sand and very small pebbles to go through a kitchen sieve. It's a pretty good analogy; the small sand is more like helium and will go through the sieve rapidly. The pebbles are more like nitrogen and oxygen (the primary components of air) and will take longer (if they're small enough to go through at all). I know you're under time crunch, but science projects are much more useful to students if they understand (at some level) the science involved.
posted by JMOZ at 8:58 AM on January 7, 2006
Requiem For A Balloon
A Tragic Case Of Surface Tension
posted by planetthoughtful at 10:08 AM on January 7, 2006
A Tragic Case Of Surface Tension
posted by planetthoughtful at 10:08 AM on January 7, 2006
She's ten years old. Try and make it sound like something she would make up.
How about "Baloon Time" ? It's something she would have seen, and it reflects what she is doing.
posted by Dunwitty at 11:22 AM on January 7, 2006
How about "Baloon Time" ? It's something she would have seen, and it reflects what she is doing.
posted by Dunwitty at 11:22 AM on January 7, 2006
or "Balloon Time", if her spelling is better than mine :-)
posted by Dunwitty at 11:22 AM on January 7, 2006
posted by Dunwitty at 11:22 AM on January 7, 2006
Response by poster: Hmm, okay...so The Kid picked "The Great Air Race." I think some of the other awesome suggestions were sort of lost on her :) Thanks again everyone for the short-notice help!
posted by justonegirl at 4:30 PM on January 7, 2006
posted by justonegirl at 4:30 PM on January 7, 2006
I know it wasn't picked, but Escaping Gas: It's Not Just the Dog Anymore made me laugh out loud. At work.
posted by Sheppagus at 3:31 PM on January 9, 2006
posted by Sheppagus at 3:31 PM on January 9, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Dr. Wu at 8:18 AM on January 7, 2006